[All] Fw: Serious health risks of sending Autistic kids to regular schools.

[Lanteigne]

 Hi folks
I'll be heading to Queens Park tomorrow to protest cuts to education and the cuts for Autism funding. 
Carol Moogk Soulis flagged the issue of the extreme heat of school yards in Waterloo Region. Many have hot portables and lack of air conditioning too. 
We also have a local study by Wendy De Gomez from UW that references how psychotropic medicines create increased health risks with heat and sun exposure. 
Nobody seems aware of the fact that kids on the Autism spectrum use psychotropic drugs so I sent the email below to local officials and the Ontario Health Coalition.
The bus heads to Queens Park tomorrow at 9:30am. If folks want to get on board contact: Jim Stewart at 519-588-5841 
Bring your own lunch and a reusable beverage container. 
Lulu 


   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Lanteigne <water.lulu at yahoo.ca>To: Regional Councillors <regionalcouncillors at regionofwaterloo.ca>; Council All City of Waterloo <council at waterloo.ca>; carol at moogk-soulis.com <carol at moogk-soulis.com>; scott_piatkowski at wrdsb.ca <scott_piatkowski at wrdsb.ca>Sent: Monday, April 29, 2019, 7:29:07 p.m. EDTSubject: Serious health risks of sending Autistic kids to regular schools.
 Hello everyone
Years ago I created an event to showcase climate risks and potential impacts on Waterloo Region. My event featured various guest speakers including Carol Moogk Soulis and Wendy De Gomez.
>From what I learned of their work I believe we are facing serious risks in sending Autistic kids to public schools. 
Carol Moogk-Soulis professional training was in Occupational therapy at McGill University and she branched off into pediatrics which led her to study the impacts of heat islands on children attending schools and how the pavement and grass types being used and the lack of shade for students poses health risks to the children with UV exposure and extreme heat. 
She did her studies on 800 fields including Waterloo Regional school playgrounds using thermal satellite images. When air temperatures had reached just past 25 degrees Celsius, the average surface on the school yards was 100 degrees. The problem is, we don't have enough shade at many of our schools to keep kids safe. 
Here is a quick Youtube of her work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXS-7cj2UC8
It is common that people on the Autism spectrum are provided with psychotropic medicines and this places them at an elevated risk.   
Wendy De Gomez has a Masters of Environmental Studies from UW, BA in Political Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland and specializes in research interests in vulnerable populations in Canada and international contexts, geo-politics, climate change adaptation and emergency management issues and worked for the social planning council of Cambridge and North Dumfries. Her report focused on impacts of Climate Change to homeless people in Waterloo Region. It notes the fact that people taking psychotropic medication for mental illnesses can experience a process called thermoregulation. This is when certain types of drugs affect the mechanisms involved in heat production and heat loss in the body. Therefore, hypothermia, sunburn, heat exhaustion and heat stoke could be caused more quickly and more severely than in others not taking this type of medication (Weihe, 1976).
Her study is online here and that passage is noted on page 91 of her report, page 105 of the PDF here: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/5501/de_G%C3%B3mez_Wendy_MES_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllow
We're not only sending kids into a more stressful environment, we could be sending them into an environment that could literally kill them if we don't take measures to protect them from extreme heat, sunlight and cold weather. Even a portable or simply a room without air conditioning could put these kids at risk. 
No matter what happens with Doug Ford's policies, we need to make sure our kids stay safe. 
Thank you
Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave. Waterloo ONN2V 2L2 


  
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